Sand and scale trap



Oct. 3l, 1933. s. l.. HlRsT SAND AND SCALE TRAP 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Sepb. 2, 1930 Eff W N m m l' Llmb Ill III WITNESSES Oct. 31, s L. HlRST SAND AND SCALE TRAP 2 :sheets-sheet 2 Filed Sepl'.. 2, 1950 wie ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 31, 1933 Unirse STATES PATENT OFFICE 5 Claims.

r1`his invention relates to improvements in pumps, but more especially in sand and 'scale traps adapted' for use in combination with plunger pumps, and it consists of the constructions, combinations and arrangements herein de-l scribed and claimed. f Y

An object of the invention is to provide a trap to be used in conjunction with'a pump or" the foregoing' type, so arranged as to catch rust, scales, sand, etc. when the pump is idle thus avoiding the accumulation of this debrisaround the plunger to the detriment of the cup leathers of the latter when the operation is again started.

Another object of the invention is to provide a trap which is self-cleaning, the principle being such that the water is made to course through the trap and thus carry aloft any sediment accumulated while the pump was idle.

A further object of the invention is to provide means to insure the washing out of sand from an entrapping structure in the iluid conduit on every down strokeof the'plunger rod, said means comprising an inverted cup-shaped tubular section which goes down into the entrapping structure on the down strokes of the rod and by virtue of them progressively reducing the available size of the fluid passageway makes up for the diminishing iiow of fluid and so maintains a substan tially uniform washing out force.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which i Figure 1 is a vertical section of the trap and all of its accessories, the plunger rod being shown in elevation.

Figure 2 is a similar View of a simplified form of the invention, illustrating a modicationand also the mode of extracting the trap.

Figure 3 is a vertical section illustrating the adaptation of the trap to a pump having a smallsize tubing.

Figure 4 is a cross section taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 3. Y

Figure 5 is a vertical section showing the use of the trap in conjunction with a larger-size tubing.

It requires but a brief preparatory statement to denne as one of the main diiliculties in plunger pump operation the accumulation of rust, scales, sand, etc. around the plunger when the pump` is idle. This debris works in around the cup leathers and engenders excessive friction when the pump is started, not only to the ultimate destructionof the cup leathers but to the detriment ofthe working barrel as well.

( Cl. 10g-220) lThe'trap is intended to be placed above the Working barrel 1, in fact between the working barrel 1 and the tubing 2 above it. A valve or plunger 3 (partially shown in section in'Fig, 2) is reciprocated in the barrel 1 by a rod 4 which 6 extends to the windmill or other mechanism used for its operation. Y

Severalforms lof the trap are herein disclosed, but in all instances the principle is identical. Refer first to Figure 1. lower tubular. section 5 and an upper tubular section 6. One of these sections is movable in respect to the other, however, always maintaining the telescopic, concentric relationship shown. 1

For this purpose the lower section 5 is rendered stationary by virtue of the engagement of its carrying means 'l with the working barrel 1, while the upper section is rendered movable by Virtue Yof theA connection of' its head 8 with the rod 4 by means of an appropriate clamp 9. The carrying means 7 establishes an annular closure between the lower tubular section 5 and the working barrel` 1 thus dening a settling chamber in which accumulations of rust, scales, sand, etc. may collect when the pump is idle.

As the rod 4 reciprocates duringr the operation of the pump the water elevated in the barrel 1 ficws through the tortuous passage between the lowerl section 5 and the tubing 2, and in doing so YThe trap comprises a washes out the foregoing accumulation from the settling chamber. Where this occurs at the beginningl of operation of the pump, the washing act is a continuous performance in the subsequent operation, thus making the trap self-clean- 9 lng.

The form of trap in Figure 1 is especially adapted to wells that areknown to pump a large amount lofsand and rather than to conne the sand to the. i

settling chamber consisting of section 5, carrying means 7 and tubing 2 the latter is tted with a rather large` cylinder 10 to which access is had byway of holes 11 in kthat length of the tubing 2 between the upper and lower heads 12 and 13 of the cylinder.

- l These heads aresupplied with glands 14 Awhich operate against packings 1,5 to produce a watertight joint around the tubing 2 in zones beyond the holes l1.

The cylinder l0 is nothing morer than an exten- 1 tion settling chamber. Itis in communication with the original settling chamber through the holes 1 1, When the former tends to iill, the surplus debris will now through the holes 11 and settle in the cylinder 10. The termv settling 1 chamber is thus to be construed in a collective sense.

In reference to the carrying means 7 it is to be observed that this comprises several couplings into one of which'the section 5 is screwed or otherwise secured. The couplings have one or more cup leathers or other packings 16 between them, mainly for the purpose of holding the carrying means with suflicient'iriction to prevent its displacement during the operation of the pump. The insertion of the carrying means is limited by a flange 17 on one oi the couplings, this being rested upon the' upper edge of the barrel l. This barrel and the tubing 2 are connected by a pipe joint 18, and it is within this that the seating of the iiange 17 occurs.

Reference is now made to Figure 3. Here theI telescoping lower and upper sections 5 and 6 of the trap bear practically/the same relationship to each other as they do in Figure 1. Figure 1`represents part of ylong-stroke pump while Fgure represents a short-stroke pump. Here the tubing 2'Ais small in size',`as it would be ina shallow well pump, and in order to accommodate the trap a cylinder 19 is used for the purpose of enlargement of the tubing 2. This cylinder is connected with the tubing 2 by means of a head 20 and is coupled with the working barrel l by means of a pipe joint 21. The cylinder 19 isl thus a virtual Vextension of the tubing 2, and as far as its relationship to the trap is concerned the cylinder 19 is to be regarded as part of the tubing 2 inasmuch as the tubing defines one wall of the settling chamber. The carrying means of the tubular section 5 now comprises an annular flange 22, the rim of which .is clamped between the edges of the barrel 1 and the cylinder 19.

It is to be observed that the carrying means 22 composes the bottom of theA settling chamber in this form as does the carrying means 7 in the form in Figure l. Although the cylinder 19 does not compose an extension settling chamber, it is nevertheless, part of the settling chamber as is obvious without further explanation( The form in Figure 5 is to be identified as part of a deep well pump. Here thetubing 2 is larger than the working barrel l. The trap, comprising the lower and upper sections 5, 6, is mounted identically with Figure l. The carrying means 7 supports the lower" section 5 upon the barrel 1 in the same manner as does the carrying means 7 support the section 5 in Figure l. The extension chamber 10 of Figure 1, and any equivalent is omitted in Figure 5. The tubing 2 is imperforate and denes the outer boundary of the settling chamber.

Figure 2 is intended to illustratev the mode of extracting the trap from the pump. This mode can be carried out only with the types in Figures 1 and 5. Upon raising` the plunger rod 4 the sections 5, 6 separate until the plunger engages one of the couplings of the carrying means 7. A continued pull forces a separation ofthe packing 16 from the Working barrel 1V so that the entire trap can be carried` to the top.

The arrangement in Figure 2 embodies a modication that makes it possible to pick up the standing valve 25 regardless of the presence of the ytrap in `the barrel l. The plunger 3 has a threaded hole 26 into which the correspondingly threaded stem 27 of the standing valve is screwed whenV it isdesired to pick up the standing Valve for removalfrom the barrel. v

In ordinarily assembling the pump the standing valve 25 is lowered to a seating position near the bottom of the working barrel 1. This is common practice. The plunger 3 is cutomarily provided with the threaded hole 26. It is also the practice to lower the plunger 3 sufficiently far beyond the bottom extremity of its stroke to screw the plunger 3 and standing valve 5 together when desiring to remove the latter.

Since the combination of the trap with the rod 4 in the other forms or the invention would prevent this additional lowering of the plunger 3 the clamp 9 is now made separate from the head 8, thus merely to serve as an abutment for the head to limit the expansion of a spring 28. The upper end of the spring rests against a collar 29 secured to the rod e.

The spring 28 is sufliciently stiff to maintain the head 3 tightly against the clampV 9 without yielding in the ordinary operation. Should it be desired to remove the standing valve 25 the operator has only to bear down on the rode whereupon the plunger 3 will be extended sufiiciently far to reach the stem 27. The section 6 would Vbe stopped by the iiange 17, but the spring 28 would yield to let the rod i slide through.

Brieiiy reverting to Figure 1 it is noted that the head 8 carries a flap valve 23 which works in conjunction with holes 24. The use of the ilap valve and the provision of the holes is optional because the` device will work without them. However, in rapidly working well pumps the relief which would be afforded by the valve 23 and holes 24 .would make it possible for the rod 4 to move down more rapidly. The ilap valve 23 is the only valve used in conjunction with the trap, but as far as the operation and utility of the trap are concerned this valve is non-essential.

The operation is readily understood. Since the upper tubular section `6 is secured to the plunger rod 4, although yieldably as in the instance of Figure 2, and the lower tubular section 5 is rendered stationary by Virtue of its mounting upon the working barrel 1 it follows that there will be relative movementl of one section to the other during the reciprocation of the rod 4. The passage of water or oil (should the trap be used in conjunction with oil wells) through the passage between the sections 5, 6 washes out all debris nding its way into the settling chamber which is composed of the section 5, its carrying means 7, 22 and the tubing 2 (Fig. l or cylinder 19, Fig. 3).

The tubular section 6 is so clamped at 9 on the rod 4 that its lower edge will come quite close to the carrying means 7, 22 when the sections 5, 6 assumethe extreme telescoping position. The lower edge of the section 6 thus tends to pulverize any heavy scales or the like and makes it possible to wash out all of the debris.

Another important purpose attaches to the foregoing lower edge of the section 6. This section travels up and down with the. plunger rod 4, and when the plunger rod makes its down` strokes the force o' fluid through the conduit, represented by the workingbarrel 1, lower tubular section 5.,and tubing 2, is at its lowest ebb.

As the section 6 advances into the entrapping structure, said structure again involving the section 5 and, tubing 2 and including the carrying means 7, the available passageway between the lower edge of the section 6 and the carrying means 7 will be progressively decreased, Bearing in mind that the luidisilowing throughwith diminishing velocity as the rod 4`goes down, the

foregoing decrease in size of the passageway produces an increase in velocity past the lower edge of the section 6 so thatV insofar as the washing out function is concerned the Washing force remains substantially the same.

It has been explained thatthe modified arrangement in Figure 2 is intended to enable the removal oi the standing Valve 25 regardless of the presence oi the trap which would otherwise offer an obstruction. The standing valve is shown as having been caught by the plunger 3. Of course in practice the parts 3 and 25 would be separate, the standing valve assuming a xed -position at the bottom of the Working barrel.

The spring 28 enables yielding of the rod 4 when pressed down upon, so that the plunger 3 can be made to reach the stem 2'?.v

Although this arrangement is described as a modication it is not at all peculiar to the particular construction in Figure 2. The clamp 9 can be made separate in any form of the invention and the rods 4 provided With springs 28 and collars 29 so that additional relative movement of the rod to the trap can be had for the purpose ci picking up the standing valve.

VI ith the exception of the ilap valve 23 (Fig. D,

kthe use of which has already been stated as being optional, the trap is entirely without valves. There is no possibility oi ythe occurrence of troubie from this source. One of the advantages of the trap is that very little additional duty is imposed on the pump, and when this circumstance is viewed from the standpoint of prolongation of the life of the plunger the slightly additional pov/er required is Well worth the expenditure.

While the construction and arrangement of the improved sand and scale trap is that of a generally preferred form, obviously modifications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims.

I claimtl. A trap for pumps comprising a pair of tubular sections in spaced, telescopic relationship, carrying means by which one of the sections is stationarily mounted upon the Working barrel of the pump to define part of a settling chamber, means at the remote end of the other section for attaching it to the plunger rod to move therewith, a cylinder constituting an extension of said settling chamber, and a tubing attached to thel working barrel, comprising part of the pumppand having said sections and the extension cylinder on the respective in and out sides thereof, that portion of the tubing within the cylinder being perforated for communication of the settling chamber with said cylinder.

2. A pumphaving a working barrel, a standing valve, a plunger and` rod, means on the respective plunger and standing valve for making a connection; in combination, means including parts working in conjunction with said Working barrel androd to provide a debris settling charm ber, and means embodied in said last means providing a slip connection between the respective part of said irst means and said rod enabling an extension of the rod with reference to said respective part beyond its normal stroke to enable coupling the plunger with said standing valve through said connecting means for the withdrawal of said standing valve.

3. A trap comprising a pair of tubular sections in spaced, telescopic relationship, carrying means by which one of the sections is stationarily mountico ments carried by the pump rod between which abutments the other section is movably mounted on said rod, and resilient means acting against one ofthe abutments and said other section to yieldably hold said other section against the other abutment.

5. A trap for pumps comprising a fluid conduit for the conduction of the entire ow of iluid, a plunger rod working axially with respect to said conduit and having a plunger for raising the fluid in said conduit, a carrying means fixed in the conduit having an opening providing ample room around the rod for lthe ilow of said fluid, a tubular section upstandingfrom said carrying means, comprising a part of the conduit, and an inverted cup-shaped tubular kstructure into which said fluid flow occurs and compelling the fluid to SAMUEL L. HIRST. 

